The key result of this study was that rumination dureation decreased by 33 per cent over the day prior and the day of calving, with the decline in rumination duration starting the day pre-partum (see Figure 1).

It was also interesting to note that activity levels were maintained pre-partum but increased in the days post-partum (Figure 1), probably associated with the maternal instinct of searching for the calf.

Overall, this preliminary study showed the potential to use rumination duration to predict the day of calving and the opportunity to use sensor data to monitor the animal health.